Historic Trades and Crafts

To be added to the waiting list please call 01243 811021 or email [email protected] 9.30am-5pm The course Participants will be taken through the process of marking out, roughing out and finishing a relief stone carving using hand tools. This workshop is suitable for beginners who wish to develop skills in stone carving. You will work... (more info)

9.30am-4.30pm The course Make a unique leather belt from English vegetable tanned leather using various techniques and finishes with a choice of buckles. The tutor Jon Lewington is a design engineer with a lifelong interest in rural trades and crafts who specializes in recreating bygone leather objects using traditional methods. Participant information Participants are advised... (more info)

To be added to the waiting list please call 01243 811021 or email [email protected] 9.30am-12.30pm The course Spend the morning in our 400 year old watermill. Learn the history of the mill, where it was originally built, its life as a working parish mill and its eventual gift to Weald & Downland, including its reconstruction... (more info)

9.30am-5pm The course A practical day with the opportunity to design your own tiles, or use pre-made patterns, with information on historical aspects of the craft. Each participant can choose four tiles to be fired and sent to them after the course. The tutor Karen Slade has been demonstrating tile making since 1996 and enjoys... (more info)

To be added to the waiting list please call 01243 811021 or email [email protected] 10am-4pm The course Make a small leaded stained glass panel, and learn many skills including how to cut glass to a precise pattern and join pieces using lead cames. Suitable for beginners or those with some experience. The tutor David Lilly... (more info)

To be added to the waiting list please call 01243 811021 or email [email protected] 9.30am-4.30pm The course Make a leather belt pouch from English vegetable tanned leather with a choice of fittings, for use in bushcraft, re-enactment, gardening or just walking the dog! The tutor Jon Lewington is a design engineer with a lifelong interest... (more info)

9.30am-4.30pm The course During this workshop students will make three different non-adhesive books; a pamphlet booklet, a long stitched book and a multi section case bound type book with soft covers. These styles of bindings allows for the use of a variety of paper weights including graph paper, tracing paper and envelopes and paper with... (more info)

9am-5.30pm The course The course will take place in the 150 year old Museum smithy, where everything is done as it would have been more than a century ago. Students will make a simple toasting fork or poker. The tutor Martin Fox’s background includes training as an architect, a degree in art history, and working... (more info)

To be added to the waiting list please call 01243 811021 or email [email protected] 9am-5.30pm The course The course will take place in the 150 year old Museum smithy, where everything is done as it would have been more than a century ago. Students will make a simple toasting fork or poker. The tutor Martin... (more info)

9am – 6pm The course A bronze age experience like no other, asking the basic questions of how did the Bronze Age begin, Students will process malachite, make a furnace and create moulds from clay. Then bring all these elements together you will create your own Bronze Age reconstruction axe or dagger. The tutor Simon Barnard... (more info)

9.30am-5.30pm The course Using the methods of ancient British people, including flint, knapping, cordage manufacture from natural fibres, and working with bone and antler, you will produce your own hafted tool to take home. The tutor Will Lord grew up on the English Heritage site of Grimes Graves, a prehistoric flint mine in Norfolk, where... (more info)

9.30am-5pm The course Working with local clays, students will explore the techniques and create pots that echo those found at the Neolithic causewayed enclosure at the Trundle hill near to the Museum. On the course you will cover clay preparation, as well as three different types of hand building techniques and decoration. There will be... (more info)

9am-5.30pm The course The course will take place in the 150 year old Museum smithy, where everything is done as it would have been more than a century ago. Students will make a simple toasting fork or poker. The tutor Martin Fox’s background includes training as an architect, a degree in art history, and working... (more info)

To be added to the waiting list please call 01243 811021 or email [email protected] 9am-5.30pm The course The course will take place in the 150 year old Museum smithy, where everything is done as it would have been more than a century ago. Students will make a simple toasting fork or poker. The tutor Martin... (more info)

9.30am-12.30pm The course Spend the morning in our 400 year old watermill. Learn the history of the mill, where it was originally built, its life as a working parish mill and its eventual gift to Weald & Downland, including its reconstruction at the museum. Learn about the different types of mill and their common features.... (more info)

10am-4pm The course An introduction to the skill of flint knapping. You will go through the techniques and the aim of the day is for everyone to be able to go away and replicate what they have learnt. The tutors James Dilley is a PhD student at the University of Southampton, a craftsman and re-enactor... (more info)

10am-4.30pm The course This workshop explains how ancient manuscript books were created, from the preparation and treatment of vellum skins for the pages, to the curing and cutting of quills, making ink, and laying of gold leaf. It will introduce and demonstrate the practical skills required, and you will have a go at writing with... (more info)

To be added to the waiting list please call 01243 811021 or email [email protected] 9am – 5.30pm The course The course will take place in the 150 year old Museum smithy, where everything is done as it would have been more than a century ago. Students will make a simple toasting fork or poker. The... (more info)

9am-5.30pm The course The course will take place in the 150 year old Museum smithy, where everything is done as it would have been more than a century ago. Students will make a Pyecombe Crook to take home with them. The tutor Martin Fox’s background includes training as an architect, a degree in art history,... (more info)

To be added to the waiting list please call 01243 811021 or email [email protected] 09.30-5pm The course A two-day workshop teaching participants how to mark out, rough out and finish a Green Man design in Bath stone. The course will give people the opportunity to either carve their own design or copy carve one using... (more info)

9.30am-12.30pm The course Spend the morning in our 400 year old watermill. Learn the history of the mill, where it was originally built, its life as a working parish mill and its eventual gift to Weald & Downland, including its reconstruction at the museum. Learn about the different types of mill and their common features.... (more info)

Weald & Downland Museum Blog

If you like discovering how timber frame buildings were made you will love our timber framing from scratch workshops, as they take you from the raw timber to the “reared-up” carcass of a structure. Learning from the past is at the heart of the Museum’s course programme. In terms...read more